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Iron Man's Obadiah Stane Originally Survived, Says Bridges

A film's script can change dramatically before it gets to the big screen, and Jeff Bridges clued us into how Iron Man could have had a completely different ending. While discussing his upcoming movie The Only Living Boy In New York from director Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man), Bridges talked about his time working with Marvel.

The veteran actor played Obadiah Stane, the villain in the first Iron Man movie, and the first bad guy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the film, you might remember Stane dying inside his Iron Monger suit following his climactic battle with Tony Stark.

According to Bridges, the original draft of the script actually gave his character a much more ambiguous ending than we eventually received. "In the original script they were supposed to open my suit after, and I was gone! But then, no. I read the scene we were shooting, and they said, 'No, you're dead.' And I said, 'Oh...' Then they said, 'Well, it's a comic! Maybe you'll come back!' I don't know."

Over the years, Marvel Studios has earned a reputation for being secretive about its movies. As we've recently learned, actors weren't given the full script to Avengers: Infinity War, and Samuel L. Jackson didn't learn he would be in the movie until he read about it online.

Bridges had no idea his character's ending had been altered, so it's clear Marvel has kept its scripts close to the chest from the very beginning. But could we see him again?

When asked if there were plans to ever bring him back into the MCU, he simply answered "you never know, you never know."

Could Obadiah Stane make a comeback following or during Avengers: Infinity War? This is a comic book movie, after all, and if Marvel felt it would be a good idea to bring back Iron Man's first bad guy, they would do it. Like they do in comics, you can come up with an explanation later. Whether he could be brought back to life with the Infinity Gauntlet or wished back using magic has yet to be seen.

It's also possible for Bridges to return to the movie universe without undoing anything that has come before. Since the solo Captain Marvel movie will take place primarily in the 1990s, it wouldn't be out of the question for younger versions of established (and dead) characters to show up. Stane could be one of them.

Originally created by Dennis O'Neil and Luke McDonnell in Iron Man #163 from 1982, Stane was killed in 1985's Iron Man #200.